Nintendo Announces Wind Waker HD, New Yoshi Title, More For Wii U

Wii U owners have a few new things to get excited over.During Nintendo’s latest “Nintendo Direct” video, the company announced several new titles and features on the way for the Wii U, chief among them a surprise announcement for an HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, coming this fall, complete with Miiverse integration and the ability to play the entire game right from the Wii U GamePad.

Nintendo also says they’re working on a new Zelda title for the Wii U that will “rethink the conventions behind Zelda,” including making the series less linear, but we won’t be getting any more details on that for “some time.”

Also announced was a new Yoshi game, made by the folks behind Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and it’s obviously using the same beautiful art style.

The Super Mario Galaxy team is also working on a new 3D Mario title for Wii U, and Nintendo says they’re working on a new Wii UMario Kart title, hoping to have both available in a playable form at E3.

A new party game from the makers of Wii Party is also on the way. One minigame looks like “twister” but using hands only, with three Wii remotes and a GamePad, and it looks like another minigame will feature a mini Foosball table playable on the GamePad.

As if all of that isn’t enough, here are the rest of the announcements: there’s a Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem crossover in the works from Atlus, the makers of Xenoblade are making a mystery title called “X” that features Monster Hunter-style gameplay but also involves giant robots, the Miiverse is coming to smartphones this spring with a dedicated app to soon follow, and oh, the Wii U is getting NES and Super NES games as part of the Virtual Console service, starting with Balloon Fight today.

Japanese Wii U owners are getting Mother 2, better known in the US as Earthbound, in March. No word on if that title will be making the trip overseas.